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Monday, November 14, 2016

The Dutch Schultz Lost Treasure

Dutch Schultz (born Arthur Flegenheimer; Aug 6, 1902 – Oct 24, 1935) was a New York City gangster of the 1920s and 1930s who made his fortune in organized crime. Activities such as bootlegging, loan sharking, the numbers racket, and murder.

Schultz became a powerful figure in the New York crime world. Along with other rackets, Schultz began extorting New York restaurant owners and workers. Gangsters who skimmed the take didn't last long ...

"Dutch Schultz was ugly; he had been drinking and suddenly he had his gun out. Schultz wore his pistol under his vest, tucked inside his pants, right against his belly. One jerk at his vest and he had it in his hand. All in the same quick motion he swung it up, stuck it in Jules Martin's mouth and pulled the trigger. It was as simple and undramatic as that—just one quick motion of the hand. Dutch Schultz did that murder just as casually as if he were picking his teeth.”

As Martin contorted on the floor, Schultz apologized to Davis for killing someone in front of him.

When Davis later read a newspaper story about Martin's murder, he was shocked to find out that the body was found on a snow bank with a dozen stab wounds to the chest. When Davis asked Schultz about this, the boss dead-panned, "I cut his heart out."

At the time of the Martin killing, Schultz was fighting a federal tax evasion case: U.S. Attorney Thomas Dewey had set his sights on convicting Schultz. Schultz was convicted of the charges, but they were soon overturned.

Schultz went before the Mafia Commission and asked permission to kill Dewey. The majority were against it on the basis that the full weight of the authorities would come down on them, and they voted unanimously against the proposal. Bonanno family boss Joseph Bonanno thought the idea was "insane."

Schultz was furious at the outcome of the vote; he accused the Commission of trying to steal his rackets and "feed him to the law." After Schultz left in a rage, the Commission decided to kill him in order to prevent the Dewey hit. Calabrian immigrant Albert Anastasia ("Lord High Executioner") was ordered to arrange Schultz's assassination and assigned "Murder Inc." mobster Louis Buchalter to take care of it.

At 10:15 p.m. on October 23, 1935, Schultz was shot multiple times at the Palace Chophouse at 12 East Park Street in Newark, New Jersey. Doctors performed surgery but were unaware of the extent of damage done to his internal organs by a ricocheting bullet.

They were also unaware that the gunmen had intentionally used rust-coated bullets in an attempt to give Schultz a fatal bloodstream infection (septicemia) should he survive the gunshot. Schultz lingered for 22 hours before dying of peritonitis. Two bodyguards and Schultz's accountant were also killed.

Though estimated to be worth $7 million when he died, no trace of his wealth was ever found. It is believed that Schultz hid his treasure in a safe somewhere in the Catskill Mountain range.

The story says he stashed away millions somewhere in the heavily forested area of Phoenicia, New York. When Schultz was gunned down in 1935, the location of his vast fortune died with him.